Two Words, One Answer.
apocryphal
 Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It into the New Testament $19.99 This is a collection of ancient documents that has been translated into easy-to-read English. While I found some of the texts "way out there," it was enlightening to realize that these writings were as treasured as the Bible is today.  The Apocryphal New Testament: A Collection of Apocryphal Christian Literature in an English Translation $85.00 this book is very thorough with details and histories of the manuscripts presented in the New Testament Apocrypha. this is a thick book, and its very enlightening to realise that many of the manuscripts presented here used to be considered canonical at one time or another... infact the pilate cycle for example is still within the Coptic bible (the coptic church considered the oldest surviving church in the world). i have only given it 4 stars because as a mystic i am looking for things that i can use to bring me closer to personal experience of God. the content of the apocrypha is not crucial in that respect, more of a history. but i would say that the gospel of thomas that this book contains is a great spiritual direction pointer. its fascinating reading about the lives and deaths of the saints, words we do not find much about in the Canonical (authorised) scriptures. reading about for example the life and death of st Thomas in India. or pontius pilate's life after the crucifixion. its detailed and prophetic description of the antichrist and how he would love jesus in spite of his evil. the prophecy that in the last days man would drink more water and many other fascinating details that are not found in the canonical scriptures of our modern day bible. we must remember as we read this book that at one time or another most of the books of the new testament apocrypha were considered scriptures of great importance to various parts the church. the pilate cycle is canonical in the egyptian coptic church and the book of enoch (old testament apocrypha) is cannonical ie in the ethiopian bible. the coptic church is the oldest existent church. it must also be remembered that this wealth of information is NOT gnostic, but was written and believed in by those in the mainstream christian church at one time or another in our christian history. i though found the old testament apocrypha even more interesting, within its 600 or so pages... the two books of enoch are a stomping good read! (whether truth or myth) and quite a lot of missing jewish history is filled in in the apocryphal old testament, such as what happened to those who remained behind after the captivity of the jewish people in babylon. the wisdom of solomon with its female metaphores for God... so much stuff of great interest. do not confuse these 'apocrypha' with the apocrypha found in the roman catholic bible, these are quite seperate and there is a veritable mine and horde of documents and manuscripts within the covers of the new and old testament apocrypha. unfortunately, because of a rigid view of what constitutes true and false doctrine many of these priceless manuscripts have been sidelined and almost extinguished in the modern christian experience. professor elliot's compiling of the new testament apocrypha is very thorough and applies modern scolarship to translation and history of the manuscripts in no doubt a most rigorous manner. though not an academic, i am unable to give a critical comment on these aspects of her edition. it also contains more recently discovered material that is not found in M R James's New Testament Apocrypha. when i originally sought to acquire this book in a first edition format, it was very hard to get hold of elliot's new testament apocrypha and i had to pay more than ¡ò100 for my copy, but it was well worth it. if just for a better understanding of christian history, you buy this book, i think you will find that it was well worth the price and difficulties you may have to overcome in getting your copy! lots of love, snow-flake. xxx |
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